Steal This Song?

We are torn here at the Blasphemy Blog about this excellent song by the Western Australian band End of Fashion.

On the one hand, as others have pointed out, this song has been stolen pretty much straight from the Pixies. As David Spade might have said back in the day, "'Oh Yeah' is a good song, but I liked it better the first time, when it was called 'Where is My Mind?'"

It's not just the chord progression, either. The ragged strumming, the hiccupy lyrics, the repeated riff; they're all taken directly from the Pixies.

On the other hand, though...when this song came on the radio, we loved it here at the Blasphemy Blog. We couldn't wait to hear it again. It's just a fun song, witty and bouncy. "Where is My Mind?" is witty and bouncy, too.

This got us to thinking that maybe the song, stolen though it is, is okay. Musicians always steal from each other. No less a pop luminary than George Harrison was sued because his song "My Sweet Lord" sounds an awful lot like "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons. Maybe there is room in this world for two versions of the same great song.

If Black Francis is the suing type, though, End of Fashion better get ready to go to court. Because even though we at the Blasphemy Blog like both versions of the song, the copyright laws of the United States of America do not.